The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1887-09-15

the train, dead, and the little babe sittin'
there playing with piece of the shat
tered stove, saying, Ma, ma, ma; pa, pa;
pa, as it would laugh and hit the floor
with piece of the stove and pat its little
hands in q puddle of its mothers blood.
Them war bad times.
"Now, want TO tell you erbout that
little babe and why it was that the cap
tain OF that conscript gang that killed
Lens little girls escaped, while oil the
rest war killed and Lens X mark put OPP
posite their names yonder on that tree,
and how it was came to know all erbout
It,"
Hero old man PlunRet moved Off a few
steps TO the spring-for we had long since
alighted from tho wagon and had eaten
lunch under one of the oaks, After the
old man had drank and Lit his pipe, he sat
down and continued;
"One OF the big Yankee prisoners took
the little babe in his arms and went and
washed the blood often it with some water
that run from the mashed up tender, and
he didn't Know what TO do with the little
thing, so he seed old man Williams er
sittin' or or piece, not much hurt, and he
took the little babe and put it in his arms
I and told him to take care of il, Old man
Williams never had no children, and he
didn't know how to manage the little
| thing, .but he done the best he could, and
thar warn't nobody else that wanted the
babe, so the old man had to keep it, and
no growed to love IL tho same rs il IL was
his own little babe, aud when he took it
! home and give II to his old 'oman she
fairly danced, and they kept IL and raised
| it, and IL was always called Lena Will
Jams, and it never did know, and don't
know till this day any difference betwixt
these two old people and shure enough
father and mother.
"Well," continued Plunket, elena
growed up to be as pretty or young lady
us thar was anywhere In Pike county, and
she married arter while, and old man
Williams willed her everything he had,
and so she was rich and happy, and is to
this day, hope.
"The war was over, and Len Clinton
started out to travel the world over, to
find his wife and little one and to fulfill
the vow that ho had made kneeling beside
his dead children, to kill every man that
eamo 10 his house on that sad night.
"He wrote to every one in Georgia that
he knew for intelligence of his wife and
| little one, He could hear nothing, He
then wrote to other states, and waited
passed, his hair grew gray he roved the
woods, looking into every nook and corner
TO see IL he might not find the bones OF his
loved ones, murdered and hid away. He
got to be called Crazy Len, people were
| afraid of him, and he trifted off to Texas
and then he come back to Alabama, and
I then he went over TO Georgia, and he was
. GROUND in my settlement and | seed him
| and he told me er5out all his troubles,
| and | told him erbout the collision at
| GAINESVILLE and erbout the lone woman,
| the little babe, and he would hardly wait
for mo to get through fore he was off,
and that's how i come to know so much
erbout him.
"Well," continued Plunket. Glen went
to Barncsyille, and he seed the grave
| marked unknown and then he went
over the other side of Zebulon to old man
Williams settlement, and he got to the
store close by where Lena and her hus-
band lived, and set down to rest n mint,
leaning his gun, which he always carried,
up by the side of the house, and while he
was talking they all found out who it
was, and some of 'em run and told Lena
and her old man crbout him, and here
they come down to the store, and rs they
| turned Ground the corner of the store
Witulu ten lCSt Vi NucIS LIN WIS SCUM I,
Len raised his head, recognized the hus-
| band, grabbed his gun and threw it to his
| shoulder, when Lena sprang in front Of
her husband, and as her eyes met her
fathers he slowly lowered his gun and
said:
az won't make the other x turned
and walked Off, and he's never been seen
in Pike since, and they just call him
crazy. He may be crlOoking right at Ms
now, Folks say he's always somewhere
Ground here, and you couldn't get no.
| body what knows him to touch thing on
this place or to disturb erthing about that
old house. Sarge in Atlanta Constitu-
| ton.